A goal-fest between Ahly and Italian giants AS Roma saw the Egyptian league leaders triumph 4-3 at a friendly match at the UAE's Hazza Ben Zayed Stadium on Friday.

Meeting for the third time in their history, following a 2-1 victory for Ahly in 2002 and another 3-0 win for Roma in 2008, the Reds managed to prevail this time in another exhibition game that witnessed a large fan turnout in Al-Ain city.

Ghanaian striker John Antwi and his Egyptian colleagues Moemen Zakareya, Walid Soliman and Ahmed El-Sheikh all scored for Ahly, while Eden Dzeko, Mohamed Salah and William Vainqueur were on the score-sheet for the Italians.

Goal-fest

Ahly's high-pressing strategy paid dividends early on when both Saleh Gomaa and Moemen Zakareya managed to win the ball, with the latter setting up an unmarked Antwi inside the area to slot past keeper Morgan De Sanctis.

After being denied by the woodwork, Dzeko managed to equalise seven minutes later, when he received a long ball from Totti between centre-back duo Rami Rabia and Mohamed Naguib and turned to strike the ball past keeper Sherif Ekramy.

Salah then put his side ahead four minutes from the break when he struck near the edge of the box after Dzeko's layoff, following a left-wing cross that centre-back Rabia curiously failed to clear after finding himself out of position.

But that wasn't the end of the action in the first half; Zakareya made sure Ahly went into the dressing rooms level with their illustrious opponents when his brilliant curling effort from inside the area found the net at the far corner.

The eight-time African champions took the lead just nine minutes into the second half, when on-fire Zakareya burst down the left before sending a cross that was eventually converted by Soliman for his side's third.

The final moments, however, witnessed some late drama, when substitute Vainqueur was thought to have ended the game in a 3-3 draw after finding the top of the net from point-blank range in the first moment of stoppage time.

But another substitute in El-Sheikh managed to end the game in Ahly's favour, after being allowed to run through Roma's midfield easily before hitting a well-placed low strike past keeper De Sanctis.

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